Domestic water softeners
Discussion
Hi all. I know this topic has been covered before, but....I want to get a water softener installed due to the hard water and I'm frankly bored of having to descale stuff. Lots of brands out there so are they all much of a muchness or are some better than others?
Kenitico
Harveys
BWT
lalala
Thoughts, experience appreciated.
Cheers
Kenitico
Harveys
BWT
lalala
Thoughts, experience appreciated.
Cheers
Our Kinetico 2020C was installed & left by the previous owners and finished providing service after around 22 years operation.....it was still softening water, but the flow rate had dropped through the floor, so I believe the resin tanks/beads had finally given up the ghost (technical term).
Spoke to a repair bloke who said at that age, it's done well, and you would 'chase your tail' with replacement components moving forward, hence replace it......and replace it I did. This time with a Harveys HV4, which does a great job, but will it last another 23 years? God knows, but seems pretty robustly built like the the Kinetico before it.
I would probably stick with one of those two brands - they seem to be the big names in the game, good after support, spares readily available etc.
Spoke to a repair bloke who said at that age, it's done well, and you would 'chase your tail' with replacement components moving forward, hence replace it......and replace it I did. This time with a Harveys HV4, which does a great job, but will it last another 23 years? God knows, but seems pretty robustly built like the the Kinetico before it.
I would probably stick with one of those two brands - they seem to be the big names in the game, good after support, spares readily available etc.
We've got one of these rather generic ones:
https://www.fountainsofteners.co.uk/coral-15-litre...
and so far it's been completely faultless for the 8 years its been in.
https://www.fountainsofteners.co.uk/coral-15-litre...
and so far it's been completely faultless for the 8 years its been in.
I have just last week had installed a new Harvey TwinTec S4 in our house, into which we moved at the end of Jan.
It replaces a previous generation model that we believe was 12-15 years old. Due to having building work done and the old machine being left uncovered (builders lost/chucked the lid) it would have acquired quite a bit of brick dust so it was worth replacing it.
It replaces a previous generation model that we believe was 12-15 years old. Due to having building work done and the old machine being left uncovered (builders lost/chucked the lid) it would have acquired quite a bit of brick dust so it was worth replacing it.
The house we are in had a Kinetico twin cylinder jobbie which lasted nearly 25 years until one day there was a pin prick leak in one of the cylinders. Before that it was a great machine. Replacement units were a bit pricey so I went for a cheaper one from Fountain water softeners. The fountain one is a single cylinder one and does work but it's not as good as the old Kinetico and requires an electric power supply to manage its timer.
beanoir said:
Good timing, we're looking at installing one. Be interested to read the advice on the different brands and options.
Are the non-electric units a better option?
Unless there are any 'non brand affiliated' installers lurking on the forum, I can't imagine you'll find a black and white answer to this, as i'm sure they all work and do the job, just fine.Are the non-electric units a better option?
The downside to an electrical unit is that a) you will need to provide a power supply to it, b) if you wish to draw water when the system is regenerating, it will be unsoftened. - The latter *might* only really an issue if you say run the washing machine or dish washer over night....but I think you could deconflict the timings anyway. c) If you are high daily water consumers (without cold water storage as a buffer) I expect you could draw through more water than a single tank can offer, hence again, drawing unsoftened water through your house.
The non-electric units have twin tanks don't have this issue - they could regen at any time, but you have seamless softened water supply regardless. Both my Kinetico and Harvey were/are twin tank units.
MattyD803 said:
Unless there are any 'non brand affiliated' installers lurking on the forum, I can't imagine you'll find a black and white answer to this, as i'm sure they all work and do the job, just fine.
The downside to an electrical unit is that a) you will need to provide a power supply to it, b) if you wish to draw water when the system is regenerating, it will be unsoftened. - The latter *might* only really an issue if you say run the washing machine or dish washer over night....but I think you could deconflict the timings anyway. c) If you are high daily water consumers (without cold water storage as a buffer) I expect you could draw through more water than a single tank can offer, hence again, drawing unsoftened water through your house.
The non-electric units have twin tanks don't have this issue - they could regen at any time, but you have seamless softened water supply regardless. Both my Kinetico and Harvey were/are twin tank units.
Good to know, thanks! The downside to an electrical unit is that a) you will need to provide a power supply to it, b) if you wish to draw water when the system is regenerating, it will be unsoftened. - The latter *might* only really an issue if you say run the washing machine or dish washer over night....but I think you could deconflict the timings anyway. c) If you are high daily water consumers (without cold water storage as a buffer) I expect you could draw through more water than a single tank can offer, hence again, drawing unsoftened water through your house.
The non-electric units have twin tanks don't have this issue - they could regen at any time, but you have seamless softened water supply regardless. Both my Kinetico and Harvey were/are twin tank units.
Bought a BWT one from Screwfix to replace a Kinetico unit that was ~30 years old. BWT unit was much cheaper than comparable Kinetico units, they (BWT) come out (free) to verify the install which I did.
Seems to work well, needed to force a regeneration after some power cuts, it is electric as opposed to the Kinetico unit.
Seems to work well, needed to force a regeneration after some power cuts, it is electric as opposed to the Kinetico unit.
We had a Harvey's installed when we lived in Brighton as the water there is especially hard. Worked brilliantly, never missed a beat in 4 years. We brought it with us to our new home in the midlands and installed with no issues. It's been running fine since moving for another 2 years so far. It appears to be very robust and it's bloody heavy! I'd have another based on 6 years trouble free ownership and counting.
Water softeners aren’t created equal. Size of the ion exchange unit, flow rates, pressure loss, powered vs pressure driven, single cylinder vs dual, salt consumption, type of salt. These are all variables which may make a difference to your choice.
The dual cylinder thing is somewhat overplayed IMO and it’s way down my list of criteria. I have a family of 5, lots of sports played needing showers & washing, and an appropriately sized single cylinder unit isn’t an issue. Just set for a 4am recharge. Dual cylinder isn’t mutually exclusive with electric powered units.
It’s really worthwhile looking at the salt consumption. Using 20 bags of salt a year rather than 8 makes a big difference to total cost over the lifetime of the unit.
You should also look at the installation as if there’s no convenient power source or height is limited (in a kitchen cupboard) then this might dictate the options.
Kinetico and Harvey’s are good units but they’re pricey and usually push you into block salt which is more expensive. I bought a cheapo Water2Buy unit which although specified & configured for a family of 5 just couldn’t handle the workload. I gave it to my dad where it replaced an old Kinetico, he’s very happy with it for just 2 people.
The last 2 I bought have been Ecowater, they’re my favourite of all the ones I’ve had, it takes the cheapest salt and uses hardly any of it. It has a useful control panel which shows flow rates, salt levels and consumption.
The dual cylinder thing is somewhat overplayed IMO and it’s way down my list of criteria. I have a family of 5, lots of sports played needing showers & washing, and an appropriately sized single cylinder unit isn’t an issue. Just set for a 4am recharge. Dual cylinder isn’t mutually exclusive with electric powered units.
It’s really worthwhile looking at the salt consumption. Using 20 bags of salt a year rather than 8 makes a big difference to total cost over the lifetime of the unit.
You should also look at the installation as if there’s no convenient power source or height is limited (in a kitchen cupboard) then this might dictate the options.
Kinetico and Harvey’s are good units but they’re pricey and usually push you into block salt which is more expensive. I bought a cheapo Water2Buy unit which although specified & configured for a family of 5 just couldn’t handle the workload. I gave it to my dad where it replaced an old Kinetico, he’s very happy with it for just 2 people.
The last 2 I bought have been Ecowater, they’re my favourite of all the ones I’ve had, it takes the cheapest salt and uses hardly any of it. It has a useful control panel which shows flow rates, salt levels and consumption.
MattyD803 said:
Unless there are any 'non brand affiliated' installers lurking on the forum, I can't imagine you'll find a black and white answer to this, as i'm sure they all work and do the job, just fine.
The downside to an electrical unit is that a) you will need to provide a power supply to it, b) if you wish to draw water when the system is regenerating, it will be unsoftened. - The latter *might* only really an issue if you say run the washing machine or dish washer over night....but I think you could deconflict the timings anyway. c) If you are high daily water consumers (without cold water storage as a buffer) I expect you could draw through more water than a single tank can offer, hence again, drawing unsoftened water through your house.
The non-electric units have twin tanks don't have this issue - they could regen at any time, but you have seamless softened water supply regardless. Both my Kinetico and Harvey were/are twin tank units.
That will be me then The downside to an electrical unit is that a) you will need to provide a power supply to it, b) if you wish to draw water when the system is regenerating, it will be unsoftened. - The latter *might* only really an issue if you say run the washing machine or dish washer over night....but I think you could deconflict the timings anyway. c) If you are high daily water consumers (without cold water storage as a buffer) I expect you could draw through more water than a single tank can offer, hence again, drawing unsoftened water through your house.
The non-electric units have twin tanks don't have this issue - they could regen at any time, but you have seamless softened water supply regardless. Both my Kinetico and Harvey were/are twin tank units.
Yes all softeners do the same job to a certain degree,
twin v single is always a debate, but really do we all get up at 2am and use water while still it’s regenerating !
Sizing is a factor.
In the sticks said:
Hi all. I know this topic has been covered before, but....I want to get a water softener installed due to the hard water and I'm frankly bored of having to descale stuff. Lots of brands out there so are they all much of a muchness or are some better than others?
Kenitico
Harveys
BWT
lalala
Thoughts, experience appreciated.
Cheers
As above link in profile if you want any impartial advice. Kenitico
Harveys
BWT
lalala
Thoughts, experience appreciated.
Cheers
Last Visit said:
Nimby said:
Monarch were highly recommended in an older thread so that's what we went with. No problems at all with our Midi HE.
Same, we have a Midi HE. Works perfectly 2 years on. Last Visit said:
Nimby said:
Monarch were highly recommended in an older thread so that's what we went with. No problems at all with our Midi HE.
Same, we have a Midi HE. Works perfectly 2 years on. Nimby said:
Monarch were highly recommended in an older thread so that's what we went with. No problems at all with our Midi HE.
same here - great flow still working after 10 years and it was 2 years old when I bought it.Regenerates every 2000L or so and we average 400L a day.
Get the salt from costco
I have a Hauge Maximiser which was fitted by the local firm who make a tidy living out of softening the very hard water we have in the south west.
Father in law has an eco water. Both have never given us a days problem in 10 years, but do get biannual inspections.
Wouldn’t be without a softener here, it’s nice just to have constantly clear shower glass and surfaces which don’t look cloudy.
But don’t drink it, it tastes awful. I have a separate unsoftened feed which goes to a plumbed in brita filter.
Father in law has an eco water. Both have never given us a days problem in 10 years, but do get biannual inspections.
Wouldn’t be without a softener here, it’s nice just to have constantly clear shower glass and surfaces which don’t look cloudy.
But don’t drink it, it tastes awful. I have a separate unsoftened feed which goes to a plumbed in brita filter.
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